Bad Mommy Story of the Week...

Probably about once a week something happens and it just makes me think 'I'm such a bad mother, I should have known'.

Well this week I was giving my 6 month old a bath and he sits up really good so now I just put a few inches of water in the tub and let him sit and play...always supervised of course!! So, I had him sitting in the tub and I had my hand around his belly and under one arm to support him and I looked away for a second to hang the towel with my other hand and he must have reached for something.

So in slow motion he leaned over and since his head is so large the momentum got him and his little slippery bum slipped out from under him and he banged his head on the tub and then fell face first into the water. Now mind you this is all happening in slow motion but I can not get my other hand on him fast enough he was like a slippery fish...have you ever tried to hold one of those??? His face was only in there for like a second and I pulled him out but he was crying by then so I took him out and wrapped him in a towel until he settled down and then he went right back to playing in the tub...

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Abbey - posted on 06/19/2009

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Quoting Sara:

When Emily was 5 weeks old (during our first really cold winter day) I put her in her swing so that I could go outside to start the car and warm it up. My husband had left for work in the morning and locked the back door but didn't pull it tightly closed. So when I went out the door, I opened it (and though I unlocked it) an then closed the door behind me. For some strange reason, I grabbed my cell phone and put it in my coat pocket on my way out. I went to start the car and hurried back to the door to go inside. Well of course it was locked! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! After about thirty or so shakes of the door knob in disbelief at what I had done, I ran to the front door with the insane hope that the door fairy had left it unlocked. No such luck. So now I am panicking and crying. I immediately start dialing my sister and husband to see who could make it to the house the quickest. At the same time, I was standing in knee-deep snow in our flowerbed in front of the picture window with my face pressed against the glass watching Emily inside in her swing. What a horrible feeling! It was only when my husband pulled in the driveway (after breaking many speed limits I'm sure) that her swing stopped and she started crying a bit. We unlocked the door and I rushed in to find her half asleep and oblivious to the whole catastrophe.

I also walked through a door frame cradling her when she was only weeks old and hit her head on the frame. She cried, I cried. There was no bump but man did I feel bad about that one.

Those are my stories. :-)

One of the moms at my work told me that eventually I will run my sons head in to a doorframe, because she has done it several times. I think because she said that I haven't, but I have come close several times.

Next time put a towel under his bum. I had it happen to me. And I thought I may want to put something with grip under him. I have also thought about the bumbo foam chair. But I think it may float in that much water. Try what you think is right. I think it is great that it did not fase him. If you have done the dishes you can try a sink bath now that he is sitting up good and there is not enough room for him to fall all the way into the water... Boys will be Boys!!!

I did exactly the same as Lee-Ann. How on earth are you supposed to get their nails short without having some sort of issue somewhere along the line? One of Tom's nails was kind of hanging off and i looked at it wondering if i should tear it off or whether that would make it bleed. Anyhow, i decided that just ripping it off would make it bleed so i got the nail clippers out. Well, obviously i wish i hadn't now but what are we supposed to do when the little eels need their nails done? I have stratch marks all over my face and neck and chest because i hate having to cut his nails! It's only when i notice he has started to scratch himself do i know the dreaded time has come to get going with the nail clippers. I get so stressed about it expecting half his finger to come off in my hand with every clip! I've drawn blood twice in nearly 7 months and i burst into tears both times. Hubby can't understand why i get stressed and thats when i tend to snap at him because he doesn't seem to understand what a wiggly worm we have created. If it's so easy, why doesn't he do it and save me the stress? lol x

When Emily was 5 weeks old (during our first really cold winter day) I put her in her swing so that I could go outside to start the car and warm it up. My husband had left for work in the morning and locked the back door but didn't pull it tightly closed. So when I went out the door, I opened it (and though I unlocked it) an then closed the door behind me. For some strange reason, I grabbed my cell phone and put it in my coat pocket on my way out. I went to start the car and hurried back to the door to go inside. Well of course it was locked! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek! After about thirty or so shakes of the door knob in disbelief at what I had done, I ran to the front door with the insane hope that the door fairy had left it unlocked. No such luck. So now I am panicking and crying. I immediately start dialing my sister and husband to see who could make it to the house the quickest. At the same time, I was standing in knee-deep snow in our flowerbed in front of the picture window with my face pressed against the glass watching Emily inside in her swing. What a horrible feeling! It was only when my husband pulled in the driveway (after breaking many speed limits I'm sure) that her swing stopped and she started crying a bit. We unlocked the door and I rushed in to find her half asleep and oblivious to the whole catastrophe.

I also walked through a door frame cradling her when she was only weeks old and hit her head on the frame. She cried, I cried. There was no bump but man did I feel bad about that one.

My horror story is the dreaded nail clipper story! yup, i clipped the tip of my poor we bubba's thumb, not off completely thank god, but enough to make it bleed a lot! Her strong little hand jerked just as i was about to complete the transaction and it was just before bed too so she was really tired and grumpy already. nice one mum! so here i am thinking, how on earth do i stop my (then) 4 month old's thumb from bleeding? and is it cut enough to warrant stitches?? i was trying to guess how bad a cut that size on her wee thumb would be in relation to my thumb. i applied pressure as best she would let me, whilst absolutely drowning her in kisses and cuddles, i wanted to put a wee plaster on it, but she was into putting her hands in her mouth etc so didn't want her to choke, in the end i put her to bed, she sucked on her hand, and it stopped bleeding (i went in with a torch and the guilts to check later in the night). Needless to say we are even more careful now. Motherhood is such a guilt trip! lol.

My horror story is the dreaded nail clipper story! yup, i clipped the tip of my poor we bubba's thumb, not off completely thank god, but enough to make it bleed a lot! Her strong little hand jerked just as i was about to complete the transaction and it was just before bed too so she was really tired and grumpy already. nice one mum! so here i am thinking, how on earth do i stop my (then) 4 month old's thumb from bleeding? and is it cut enough to warrant stitches?? i was trying to guess how bad a cut that size on her wee thumb would be in relation to my thumb. i applied pressure as best she would let me, whilst absolutely drowning her in kisses and cuddles, i wanted to put a wee plaster on it, but she was into putting her hands in her mouth etc so didn't want her to choke, in the end i put her to bed, she sucked on her hand, and it stopped bleeding (i went in with a torch and the guilts to check later in the night). Needless to say we are even more careful now. Motherhood is such a guilt trip! lol.

I don't know if this would be a 'bad' story or a 'scary' story. My mom and i took Erik to African Lions Safari (its a zoo you can take your car through and see the animals right outside). we came to the monkeys and Erik was howling at the monkeys climbing all over the car and looking at him in the window, well one jumped up on the car door and the door FLEW OPEN!!!, i must have hit the unlock button by mistake! luckly i was fast enough to grab the door and the monkeys were a little startled that the door opened. the thought of having a bunch of wild monkeys in the car scared me. i can only handle one monkey (Erik) at a time

When my son was 4 days old I had just got home from the hospital with him. I am a first time mom so I knew nothing about babies! I was breast feeding him and the doctor told me to give him the vit D drops, It was my first time ever giving him these drops and I was so nervous!! I took the stopper and put it in his mouth and let it go. Well he started to choak (at least that's what I thought). So my husband and I went into panik mode and I called 911. After being on the phone with them for about 30 seconds he was done coughing and was back to sleep. The paramedics came to check him out just in case and of course he was fine! I totally over reacted! My friends still tease me about that!

I have one of those 'you knew it would happen' stories. I lay Erik (11/13) on my bed when i fold laundry and i turned for a sec to put something in my hubby dresser. Erik must have got his feet just so on the bed and literally sent himself flying off the edge of the bed!! luckly he landed on the cats bed thats on the floor next to my side of the bed. he didn't cry that much, i think he just scared himself. the cat on the other hand was none to happy to have a baby suddenly on top of him. I picked erik up and gave him a snuggle, and everything is ok again. now he spends his time in the play pen while i folding laundry :)

Parties over! No more leaving one baby in his boppy on the couch while we change the other one a few feet away. That's right. I'm a terrible mother. Chandler scooted off the couch this morning. Within seconds of me turing around. He landed on his butt. No damage. They're getting so mobile now.

Thanks for a good giggle - it just shows that we are all human. I was giving my baby a bath the other day. Conrad was sitting on his own in the bath when the plumber called me to come and look at something in the other bathroom (we are busy building). I asked my husband to watch Conrad. I was barely in the other bathroom, when I heard a big splash and then Conrad started crying. I quickly went there. Turned out Conrad fell backwards and hit his head, but he was sitting up again playing. My husband on the other hand was so shocked that he couldn't speak!

During my maternity leave I was at a friends playing cards. When we finished, they helped me put my boys in their car seats. I thanked them and left. When I got home, my husband helped me take them out of their car seats. And neither one had been buckled in!!! I was mortified. We only lived about 1 mile away from my friend's house, and nothing happened. But I have felt bad ever since. Now, I always double check.

My husband and I did this coming home from the mall when DD was only a few weeks old. We have a travel system and were using the car seat in the stroller. I put Evie in the car seat while we were in the mall but didn't buckle her in because we were still going to be there for a while. She ended up falling asleep so we never took her out again. We were using one of those kiddopotamus car seat covers so you could only see her head poking out and neither one of us checked the straps when we moved the seat into the car. We drove home (about 5 miles) without having her buckled in and to make it worse, my mom was there and was the one to get her out of the carseat and noticed our mistake. Luckily, she has 7 kids and knows things like this happen when you're sleep deprived and new at it. I was sick over it though and cried all afternoon. Hasn't happened since though!

A more recent story. Our laptop was sitting on the coffee table and was plugged in, charging. Evie crawled over to the cord, pulled it out of the laptop and started sucking on it. All of a sudden I heard her crying, so I picked her up and we both got a little electric shock. She had stuck her tongue in the end of the power cord (the part that goes in the computer) and shocked herself! Now the computer only gets charged on the desk.

I have my own bathtub horror story...except that it happened to my son who at the time was 18 months old. He had been in the tub for a while, played lots, and got all clean. I stood up, turned around to grab the towel, and at the same I stood up so did he. And he fell...hitting his chin on the faucet!! I grabbed him out of there right away, wrapped him up and dried him off so that I could check him out. I immediately noticed some blood on the towel and he was pointing to his mouth. Poor little guy had bit his tongue! Mommy held him and Daddy got him a popsicle. Being all sticky he was ready to get back in the tub, except that I noticed there was fresh blood running down his tummy. I hadn't noticed that his chin was bleeding! It wasn't hurting him so I hadn't noticed it. When he fell he had hit his chin on the stopper that you pull up to turn on the shower. Because it looked deep and was bleeding quiet a bit, we hurried to the emergency room. I felt horrible! My poor little man had to have his chin glued shut!! :( Ever since that day I put the towel on the floor next to the tub!!

Today, I made a mistake as well. I was sitting on the couch with my laptop next to me and watching my daughter play on the floor. She is just learning to pull herself up onto the couch. Well she attempted to pull herself up when she fell back and bumped her head a little onto the floor. I quickly went to go lean down to pick her up to comfort her and I ended up tugging the laptop cord which made it fall on her foot. She wasn't really crying when she bumped her head but she was crying hard once the laptop fell on her. She now has a bruise on her foot. I still feel really bad.

I read this post the other day and was feeling grateful that nothing really had happened to my daughter yet...well today it did. I was attempting to clean the bathroom and put my daughter on the bathroom rug to play while I scrubbed the toilet. My husband was home but was working on the computer so I didn't ask him to hold her. and I needed to clean the bathroom before she went down for her morning nap because the bathroom is right next to her room and I didn't want to wake her when I cleaned it. So anyway, I have a little bucket I keep all of my cleaning supplies in and it was sitting on top of the bathroom counter. Well then my dog came in the bathroom with all of us, and it's not very big but I must have started to trip over him (he's a pug puppy) and I put my hand on the counter and must have bumped the bucket. The bucket went falling off of the counter and landed right on top of my daughter! I have never heard her cry like that before and then I was crying! My husband came to see what happened and made me feel even worse. She was fine a few minutes later, just had a little bump on her head but I think that was the worst thing to ever happen. And my husband is no help, he has no clue how to comfort me, just judges me for trying to clean while she's awake and said I should have waited until she was napping! Um hello, sometimes I like to use her naptime for a little time for myself instead of doing chores. Maybe he could have offered to hold her for 10 minutes while I cleaned. UGGGHHHHH! I love my husband dearly and he is normally very helpful, I just had a hell of a morning and thought I would let all of you know that it happens to us all. That's why children are so resilient and thank goodness she won't remember it later! xxoo

The other day my son was on his tummy and crying so i thought i would give him a cuddle to cheer him up. I bent down to pick him up whilst looking around to see where his favourite toy was to cheer him up. Well, i wasn't looking what i was doing and ended up poking him in the ye instead of picking him up! Just like Krista i picked him up and cuddled him, apologising while we both cried. He got over it alot quicker than i did, especially as for the rest of the day he had a red mark under his eye to remind me what i had done. Now, my nails are as short as i can get them without drawing blood because i don't want to do it again and cause some damage!!

During my maternity leave I was at a friends playing cards. When we finished, they helped me put my boys in their car seats. I thanked them and left. When I got home, my husband helped me take them out of their car seats. And neither one had been buckled in!!! I was mortified. We only lived about 1 mile away from my friend's house, and nothing happened. But I have felt bad ever since. Now, I always double check.

I had a bad mommy moment just the other day, and I'm still paying for it. I had my son on my lap and we were sitting at my computer desk while I checked my email. He was playing with a book that was on the desk and he whacked it off the desk. For some reason, I went to grab the book to catch it, and I leaned over just far enough for my son to smack his top gums on the edge of the desk. Poor little guy; he's been teething and in so much pain already, and then I go and injure his gums even more. There was a tiny cut and it bled a little bit. I was holding him tight hugging him and apologizing, while we both cried for a few minutes! He got over it quickly, but his gums are so tender now and any time he bites down on a toy or his fingers he starts to cry. Thank goodness for baby Orajel!

When I was out of work on maternity leave my husband was laid off for the winter so it worked out good. But I had to go back to work right after new years so in the morning I would get up with the baby and when I had to take a shower I would just put him in our bed with my husband and he would usually go back to sleep. I did that one morning and I told my husband I put him there...and he responded...but I guess he wasn't really awake and he almost rolled over on him. After that I always made sure that he was fully awake before I put him in bed with him...besides if I don't get to sleep him why should he? :-) He sleeps in his room now all the time even for naps so I don't have to worry any more about that though.

That is what I worried would happen. We bought the little Munchkin duckie tub for that very reason, yet he still manages to stick his face in the water at least once a week. Maybe I am a bad mom because I know he is about to do it and I let him......but so far it hasn't upset him, just makes him pull himself up fast.

So my bad mom story is really a shame on us story, when Oli was about 3-4 weeks old we were still laying him on our chest in the middle of the night when he wouldn't sleep. My husband was still crashing REALLY hard while he slept, not the normal light parental sleep and Oli rolled off his chest on to the floor. That woke him up and got him crying. Fortunately we have a low rise bed, but that scared the crap out of us. If our bed didn't have something on the side of it, he would have rolled under the bed. That is my story that has made the most impact on me. Other than making noises that scared him and made him cry....I don't recommend a growl at 3 months old. Even if it goes with the story you are telling.